Monday, March 9, 2009
My choice
Deuteronomy 11:26, "Look, today I am giving you the choice between a blessing and a curse!" Some choice, huh? "I'll take the blessing. What? Oh, there are some conditions? What are they?" I love this! Many people seem to think that the blessings of God (and the curses) are something God hands out randomly or on the basis of some kind of divine logic only the Lord is privy to. The truth is that blessings or curses in life really are our choice. Here's how it works. God had provided only one way to live. It's lined out in the ten commandments (if you cling to the Jesus about them) and definitely crystal clear in the two (the one's about loving God and all others that Jesus gave us). That is the way Jesus taught; that is why before our faith was called "Christianity" it was called "The Way" (I still much prefer that name). One path to the good life. To follow it brings a life of blessing. Don't think of that materially ( I know you aren't); think of it in the way Jesus taught about life (abundantly). If we get off that path-curses. Not because God zaps us but because there is only one way for a human being to live that is godly. Any other way is not going to work. Therefore trying to life that way will feel like a curse (and actually it is, but one we bring on ourselves by trying to live in some other way than the way God designed us to). To say about life, "I have no choice" is to be ignorant of the truth about life. And it is to miss the wonderful choice we all, by God, do have-this day and every day.
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Steve,
ReplyDeleteYour comment, "Therefore trying to life that way will feel like a curse (and actually it is, but one we bring on ourselves by trying to live in some other way than the way God designed us to)" fits me perfectly. For too many years I have found it "easier" just to pursue a life I wanted, doing things my way, following my will. My life became miserable. Two years ago I made a conscious decision to turn my will and my life over to God. Easy decision to make, very difficult to do. But I reap the rewards of that decision each day and the more I focus on God's will the happier I am. Even when I find myself in a state of chaos, I am learning to smile and not struggle.
It really does make a world of difference, doesn't it, Brother? Me finding that life is why I spend my life trying to help others find it. For me, if I didn't do that, if I didn't share that experience, strength and hope, I would be a cosmic ingrate.
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